1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control system for a home appliance and more specifically to a conversational, speaker independent voice command control system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Control systems responsive to human voice are disclosed in a number of U.S. Patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,927 discloses a voice responsive "talking" toy which has a body, eyes and mouth and which generates a train of audio pulses in response to a complex sound such as human speech. LEDs are activated in the eye portions of the toy and when human speech is detected and LEDs in the mouth portion are activated when the toy generates the train of audio pulses. The toy does not recognize different human speech patterns, but rather is activated upon detection of complex sounds such as human speech.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,266 discloses a device to control machines by voice which responds to a plurality of predetermined musical tones in a sequence to generate a digital control output signal. The device disclosed does not recognize human speech patterns, but rather it responds to pure tone and ratios between the frequencies of those tones.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,797 discloses a voice actuated heating apparatus which recognizes a voice command and controls heating members when at least two sequential voice commands are recognized in a predetermined order. The recognized command may be displayed to the user for confirmation and manual inputs through touch switches and the like may also be made.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,798 discloses a voice-controlled safety arrangement heating apparatus which recognizes several voice commands for presetting and starting a heating operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,799 discloses a heating apparatus with voice actuated door opening mechanism which includes a voice recognition circuit, a voice synthesizer circuit and a control means actuated by recognized voice pattern to drive a releasing means to open a door on the heating apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,430,800 discloses a heating apparatus having voice command control operative in a conversational processing manner in which the control system operates in four modes. In the first mode the user makes specific verbal utterances which are recognized by a voice recognition circuit. In a second mode the apparatus makes an inquiry of the user through a voice synthesizing circuit. In a third mode the user responds with specific commands and in a fourth mode the apparatus implements the selected program.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,990 discloses a heating apparatus safety device using a voice synthesizer in which manually selected commands are inputted to the device through switches and a synthetic voice synthesizer announces the accepted function selected over the next operating step. No voice recognition circuitry is involved in the disclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,550 discloses a spoken word controlled automatic dialer having a circuit which identifies input utterances being command words, repertory words or other non-recognized words. A programmed microprocessor system is disclosed to implement the main controller function.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,109 discloses a camera which has a voice command responsive system operable in a learning mode and a working mode. In the learning mode, voice commands are received and stored in various registers for later comparison. In the working mode, voice commands are received and compared with previously stored commands for generating a control signal relating to the register of the stored recognized command. The camera also has a speaker for producing synthesized speech in both modes of operation.